the reason given above, the servant was not alarmed when the blade was
snatched nor did Eumolpus break in upon this farcical death scene.




CHAPTER THE NINETY-FIFTH.

The landlord made his appearance with a part of our little supper, while
this lover's comedy was being enacted and, taking in the very disorderly
spectacle which we presented, lying there and wallowing as we were,
"Are you drunk," he demanded, "or are you runaway slaves, or both?
Who turned up that bed there? What's the meaning of all these sneaking
preparations? You didn't want to pay the room-rent, you didn't, by
Hercules, you didn't; you wanted to wait till night and run away into the
public streets, but that won't go here! This is no widow's joint, I'll
show you that; not yet it ain't! This place belongs to Marcus
Manicius!" "So you threaten, do you'?" yelled Eumolpus, giving the
fellow a resounding slap in the face. At this, the latter threw a small
earthenware pitcher, which had been emptied by the draughts of successive
guests, at Eumolpus' head, and cut open the forehead of his cursing
adversary: then he skipped out of the room. Infuriated at such an
insult, Eumolpus snatched up a wooden candlestick, ran in pursuit of his
retreating foeman, and avenged his broken head with a shower of blows.
The entire household crowded around, as did a number of drunken lodgers,
but I seized this opportunity of retaliating and locked Eumolpus out,
retorting his own trick upon the quarrelsome fellow, and found myself
without a rival, as it were, able to enjoy my room and my night's
pleasure as well. In the meantime, Eumolpus, locked out as he was,
was being very roughly handled by the cooks and scullions of the